


Last Train Home

by ToukoTai



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Freelancer AU, Gen, agent washington but only mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-06
Updated: 2014-09-06
Packaged: 2018-02-16 10:11:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2265810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToukoTai/pseuds/ToukoTai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s nothing they can do about either problem child now, there’s a war on and they are in the front-lines, so to speak. “There’s time ‘Lina.” York tells her. “We’ve got time to plan this out.” He’s right of course, they have time to figure it out for the moment. They have time to get back to good, so they can make it right.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Last Train Home

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by [this post](http://punishandenslavesuckers.tumblr.com/post/78017205868/fight)

Every time they have the What Happens Next discussion, it always leads back to Washington. And Maine. Maine and Washington, Washington and Maine. The two left behind, the two left out. (There’s still Florida, but Carolina isn’t sure she wants to crack that KIA report. Not yet anyway.) The problem of Washington and Maine remains.

Washington is, at least, an innocent, or as innocent as an agent of Project Freelancer can be. Either way he didn’t deserve what happened to him. None of them deserved Project Freelancer, but while they are here, together, things are okay. Fighting a war, yes, living in danger with the sound of bullets and plasma bursts all around them, but together, working and moving as the team they were meant to be. Even if they are missing their heavy, their engineer, their stealth op and their backup. (They haven’t heard from Tex in a while. Carolina tries not to dwell on that.)

When they do meet back up with Washington, Carolina worries about what condition he’ll be in. It doesn’t really matter, of course. If he’s just the same as he was before or a complete wreck of the man he was. They’ll take care of him either way. (If there’s one thing that the Project taught them, it was to protect their own, because no one else could be trusted.) Carolina wants to believe that North and South’s assessment, in the brief moments before the _MoI_ crashed, is correct, is what’s true. (stable, awake, aware, _himself_ ) But she’s spent too long with the ghosts of Iota and Eta in her head, to fully believe what North says. Too many nights waking with the dual screams in her head and the name _Allison_ in her mouth.

She hopes for the best, but she prepares for the worst. And for Maine they know to prepare. Sigma went a different kind of insane then Epsilon and when he did, he took Maine down with him. Carolina hopes, wishes on every star, prays to every god, that there’s _something_ of Maine left. During the worst sleep cycles, she can still feel his hand around the back of her neck and his fingers gripping and ripping. The unforgiving yank that tore the blighted pieces of another soul out of her head. She would have called it an act of mercy, if she didn’t know better. If they all didn’t know better.

But there’s nothing they can do about either problem child now, there’s a war on and they are in the front-lines, so to speak. “There’s time ‘Lina.” York tells her. “We’ve got time to plan this out.” He’s right of course, they have time to figure it out for the moment. They have time to get back to _good,_ so they can make it _right_.

Until suddenly they don’t. There’s a ceasefire called, the war crashes to a halt, an ambassador has been found. They don’t care about the specifics, they only care that the fighting has finished, so they can start their own mission now.

They hit their first snag upon finding out that Project Freelancer and the Director are under scrutiny from the UNSC. And by scrutiny, the UNSC means internal audit/investigation. Under normal circumstances Carolina would be very, very pleased with this, as it seems the Chairman in charge of the investigation is actually paying attention to it and not falling for the Director’s smokescreen. But as it is, it just makes their mission harder, because all the records and data about where Washington and Maine might be, are under double security due to the investigation.

The second hitch comes when after finally managing to infiltrate and gain access to the records. They find that everything that had to do with Washington is gone, scrubbed clean. According to the official files, there was no Agent Washington in Project Freelancer, there never had been. The rage and guilt is quick to come and Carolina is just as quick to push them down. There’ll be time for that later. Right now, focus. Maine’s records are still here, or The Meta’s records are still here. The story they tell is one none of them want to hear, but they need it, if they’re going to find the Meta and, just maybe, pull Maine out of him.

Using the files and the records and the rather recently updated information on the Meta’s movements, they’re able to track him down. (None of them question how the updated information was obtained. Carolina kicks herself later at this oversight. They just narrowly missed finding Washington.) They catch up to him between simulation bases.

It’s a vicious fight. The Meta is stronger and faster. He has Sigma. He is Maine. He has Iota and Eta. He has Omega.(That knocks them off their game. If he has Omega then what happened to Tex?) He has the added equipment. They don’t want to kill him, he doesn’t care if he kills them. But they are a team, they’ve perfected their routine on the front-lines of the war. They have York and Delta. They have North and Theta. They have Wyoming and Gamma. They have CT’s knifework, they have South’s anger and energy. They have Carolina and her determination, her drive, her planning, her tactical eye and her need to _set things right_. It’s enough, it’s more then enough.

In the end, Carolina returns the favor, there’s blood on the ground, on armor, and she grips the back of the Meta’s neck and yanks. Maine wakes up a week later. There’s several more fights before they can even get Maine to sit still long enough to talk to. Sigma was rooted in deep, and it takes a while before Maine has sorted himself out. It takes a lot of North and Carolina pinning him down. It takes a lot of black eyes and bloody noses and throats raw from shouting and growling. Even when he’s on an even keel, they don’t tell him where the AI’s they pulled from him are.(CT keeps them tucked next to her dogtags. Carolina would be the obvious one after-all and CT is small and fast.)

They know Maine is back on the right track in his head, when he wakes up one day and scrawls a two word question on the notepad they left by his bunk.

_Where’s wash?_ It’s the thing that’s been bothering them for weeks now. They have Maine, now it’s time to finally turn to Washington. But the records from Project Freelancer are just as devoid of all things Agent Washington as they were before. Delta, York and CT have combed through every inch of the Freelancer records now. And there are no leads. Carolina can only shake her head when Maine asks again, jabbing his finger at the pad and growling.

"We don’t know. We’re looking for him Maine. But there’s nothing." Maine shakes his head back at her and scribbles on the notepad, shoving it toward her, still growling low in his damaged throat.

_Have you checked the Recovery Team records?_ And Carolina’s eyes widen. Because _of course_ , where else would you put an agent that went through project freelancer? Who’s loyalties you weren’t completely sure of? But who knew what AI were capable of, who knew what Freelancer tech could do? Who was highly trained for this exact kind of work?

It took CT the work of five minutes to find his recovery profile. He’d been given the tag Recovery One and had been active since half a year before the war ended, was active and on mission right now, as a matter of fact. Had a ninety five percent successful completion of missions on record. His current mission status was set for Valhalla and his perimeters were-Carolina had to put the data pad down and close her eyes when she read the last line. It seemed like such a joke, like the whole universe was telling one and Washington was the punchline. After everything he’d been through with the AI, that they had been through, with the Meta, and Epsilon, and the rest. She opened her eyes and looked over at CT.

"I know." CT said and Carolina stood up. There was only one course of action here. They had lasted through an entire war, fought and reclaimed Maine, finally found Washington. There was no way they could back off now. They were going to Valhalla, they were going to re-group with Washington. It didn’t matter if his current assignment felt like a cruel joke, he’d been out on his own long enough. She left the data pad on the table.

Washington’s current mission: protect the Alpha.


End file.
